VR Technology In The Public Sector

Published December 8th at 12:00am

Not only can VR be used for entertainment, but it can also be utilised by private and public sector organisations for many different purposes it would seem. While virtual reality (VR) technology was originally introduced to the market through the gaming market it is now being tested in uncharted waters including public sector services such as healthcare and education.

For example, an Australian health insurer, Medibank in association with VR developers at Liminal recently launched an immersive VR experience for patients using Google Daydream View. Its aim was to improve the comfort for people who are unable to leave their hospital bed by giving them a joyful experience, relieving them of the loneliness and isolation long-stay patients may feel.

VR is still being treated as an experimental approach, however, advocates of virtual reality technology agree that it could be an effective treatment for intense pain, depression, arachnophobia and even Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, there are two options in terms of VR headsets, mobile and tethered. As portability is important in hospitals mobile VR headsets, such as the Google Daydream, are the perfect choice for patients.

There are other examples of this technology being used in hospitals in the U.S. and the UK where there have been many surprising discoveries. A 13-year-old who suffered burn wounds was immersed in a “SnowWorld” VR simulation at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Texas: “I’d never heard of it so I was a little surprised,” she said. “When I first tried it, it distracted me from what they were doing so it helped with the pain.”

In the UK researchers using VR technology managed to help improve nerve function in paralysed people when combined with a robotic exoskeleton. The study involved eight people with paraplegia and all patients experienced improvements in terms of feeling pain and touch as well as improvements in their ability to walk. Neuroscientists believe that there is a bright future for VR in healthcare.

Another way VR is innovating public sector services is in education, Google is a huge believer in affordable VR to be utilised by the masses. Google Expeditions is a new initiative for teachers to ‘bring your lessons to life’ using their own Google Cardboard hardware. It includes collections of VR content that support the school’s curriculum, so teachers can take their class on virtual field trips to museums, landmarks or even outer space. It certainly is much more cost effective than organising a field trip around the world and allows children to learn about the world in a safe environment.

Google Expeditions are taking place across the UK, visiting children in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Newcastle and Inverness reaching a total of one million school children. “Virtual reality can spark students’ imagination and help them learn about topics like how blood flows through the human body or the impact climate change is having on the Great Barrier Reef, in an engaging and immersive way,” said Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai. Many school teachers believe by bringing this technology to the classroom, they could help school children learn in a new and exciting way.

In the future, we are likely to see more customised and personalised VR content available to both healthcare and educational services as the cost of VR technology continues to fall while its sophistication continues to rise. It is truly fascinating how services that you don’t expect can adopt new technologies such as VR and show remarkable results in its integration.